


Fang and Fur

by AubreyPosenEsquire



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27760297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AubreyPosenEsquire/pseuds/AubreyPosenEsquire
Summary: Vampires and Werewolves have their world just under the surface of the human world.When Stacie Conrad has to return to her pack and walk away from Aubrey Posen it breaks the vampire's heart.What happens when Stacie returns with Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale, both sporting the Alpha's mark?
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Stacie Conrad/Beca Mitchell/Aubrey Posen, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen
Comments: 44
Kudos: 80





	1. Anastasia

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very different take on vampires and werewolves from my story Vampires, Werewolves and Pitch Perfect. 
> 
> There are illusions to things like war, some noncon and things of that nature but they are pretty vague and spread out, but fair warning to you. 
> 
> Thanks again to G for her assist on this. 
> 
> This is 4 chapters and all four are written already. :)

The snow was knee deep as the three cloaked figures walked up the hill that led to a large home with a few lights on in the large windows that overlooked a dense forest. 

The taller of the figures led the others closer and closer to the manor as the snow fell over the cloaks that offered limited protections from the elements. The bitter cold nipped at any of the exposed skin they showed, each too weak to be able to transform to their beastly forms to make their way faster in the inclement conditions. 

When they reached the gate the tallest paused and lifted her hand to the gate. When it refused to open for them she pulled a dagger out, cutting her palm before offering her hand to the gate which creaked open as the crimson blood dripped down from where the palm touched. 

The shortest offered her a strip of dirty cloth to wrap her hand in, which she accepted wordlessly before pushing her way into the courtyard towards the massive wooden door that separated them from the shelter of the manor. 

The large wooden door opened under protest but it did open as the lead figure brought them into the safety - whatever this place offered anyway - of the manor. 

“What is this place?” One asked, her hood dropping to let out her red hair.

“It was my home once.” The tallest whispered. 

A man appeared in the doorway, older with a thick white beard. He bowed to the tallest of the three, a tremble in his actions. 

“Take these two to the guest room near your master’s chambers and get them a meal. Lots of meat.” She commanded him before hanging her cloak and walking through the doorway towards a study at the rear of the manor. 

The path was one she walked so many times years ago. Her wrist started to burn as two fang marks heated as they got closer and closer to the beast that put them there in the first place.

The door to the study was not one opened by any of the servants that staffed this manor. They were forbidden, even on their masters' best days, from entering the space. When this was her home she never hesitated to open the door. Yet as she stood outside the door she couldn’t help the hesitation that came to her as she waged war with herself over if she should know or not. 

Finally she pushed the door open and stepped inside the study. Bookshelves filled each of the walls, a store fireplace with a roaring fire was the only source of light in the room for the figure sitting at the desk writing and paying the new figure in the room no mind.

“I need shelter. I have two with me and we need shelter.”

The figure at the desk didn’t pause in her writing. She didn’t flinch at the voice that felt hotter on her skin than the fire in the grand stone fireplace. Her hand kept scrawling across the page until she had finished what she was doing. She blew on the ink to dry it before setting her pen down and folding the letter into a small package. She used a wax seal to close it before walking to the window where a raven appeared and took it in its beak, flying off quickly. 

“You left me.”

“I know.”

“You left me after you vowed to never leave.”

“It was more complicated than you wanted it to be.”

The figure by the window bared her fangs as she turned around, fair hair swinging around her face as she showed her anger. She had been happy to spend her time - she had nothing but time - alone before this creature showed herself again.

The figure by the door unwrapped her palm, the scent of the blood filling the room. She knew it was unfair to use the blood that she had denied to the vampire for years against her now but she was running out of options. She held her hand out as she watched the pupils of the vampire’s eyes enlarge until her eyes looked as though they were pure block. 

“I am weak but feed from me. I will trade my blood for shelter.” 

The vampire hissed. “Your blood already belongs to me. I made you my mate and in that moment your blood became mine. How dare you offer me what is already mine to take.” 

“You won’t take it without my consent.” The figure by the door had to believe that even if she could tell her absence from the vampire’s side had changed her from the woman she knew.

The vampire stepped around the desk and in a heartbeat had the figure pinning to the door. She used her enhanced strength to keep her where she wanted, left hand pinned by her right while her left hand was around the figure’s throat. 

“You have always been bold for a werewolf and I see our time apart has not changed you.” The vampire snarled as she let her fangs extend to their full size. Her eyes flicked to faded bite marks on the neck of the werewolf that still stood inches taller than she was. 

“It’s changed me.” The werewolf whispered, not fighting against the vampire’s hold on her wrist or neck. “Please let us stay.”

The vampire bent her head to let her fangs scrap against the werewolf’s neck. She could smell the sweet scent of blood that was meant for her, marked by her, blood that she had been craving every moment since she first tasted it. She felt a tremor run through her as she pressed her lips to the mark.

“Promise me that no one else has tasted your blood and you and your lovers - and yes I smell them on you as plain as day - may make shelter in this place.”

“No one else has had my blood.” The werewolf brought the hand that wasn’t pinned up to press to the back of the vampire’s head the way she used to do when her mate fed from her years ago. “Take what you want but remember I am weakened.”

The vampire bit down, gulping at the blood to both confirm the truth in the werewolves oath and to have what she desired most. She felt hot tears running down her own cheeks at the unearthly pleasure she took in this blood. She gulped down only a few mouthfuls, mindful of the werewolves words and weakened state. She licked the two fang marks before pulling back and sealing them with two flicks of her tongue. 

“Welcome home, Anastasia.”

“Thank you, Aubrey.”

—————

The room that Beca and Chloe were taken to was the nicest room either had been in before. There was a large four poster bed in the room, a large fireplace that was lit, warming the room with stone walls quickly. There was a bathroom attached with a tub large enough for four fully grown men that was filled as if by magic. 

On a table by the window the same man that greeted them downstairs brought large plates of perfectly cooked meats - by werewolf standards - as well as all the fixings. 

The pair looked at each other for a moment before both moved from the center of the room to gorge themselves on the food. The only thing either had in the last week were a few rabbits they managed to catch, the last three days ago. 

“What is this place?” Beca asked Chloe between bites. 

“I don’t know.” Chloe looked up at Beca, bits of food on her dirty face. “But Stacie seems to know it well. She wouldn’t lead us to our doom, right?”

“No. I don’t think so.” Beca shook her head. 

They finished off the food - saving a bit more than a third of it for Stacie should she return to them - before heading to the bathroom to clean themselves up. 

“The water is going to feel nice.” Chloe looked at the perfumed water that looked so inviting after not having access for far longer than she would have liked. 

“I feel like I haven’t really been clean in weeks.” Beca started to strip the tattered clothes from her too thin frame. 

“Me either.” Chloe stepped into the water after she finished undressing. Her battered body was soothed by the perfume of the water and the heat of it, hot without scalding her. 

Beca soon joined her as each grabbed a wash cloth to start scrubbing their bodies clean of the dirt from their travels. Each watched the door to see if Stacie would be in to join them. It had been a long time since they had been separated in any way from each other. 

It wasn’t until the pair were cleaned and dressed in clothes that had been laid out that Stacie entered the room. All three were now dressed in clothes that were the perfect size for their frames - as if again magic was somehow involved. Warm hoodies and well fitting pants that allowed for movement. 

Stacie walked over to the pair, pulling both of them close to her. She nuzzled their necks one after the other. Breathing easier now that the two were back in her sight again. 

“Did they bring you enough food?” Stacie asked the pair.

“We had our fill but we saved you your share.” Chloe gestured to the food that was still sitting out for her. 

“Eat more if you both want. I was given my own share of food when I went to clean up.” Stacie kept a hand on each of their waists as the three stood close together. 

“You said this was your home once.” Beca couldn’t leave that alone. She had known Stacie for three years and there was no hint she came from anything like this. 

“I owe both of you an explanation.” Stacie breathed out as she moved to stand by the fire. There was little chance it would really warm her though. The chill seemed to be bone deep since being back in this place. 

Beca and Chloe sat on the end of the large bed, hand in hand, as they looked to Stacie to explain.

“I was born into the Byrne pack. My mother was a Byrne and my father doesn’t matter to this story. But you know that much.” Stacie started without looking at the other two. “When I was nine my grandfather was removed from power. My mother and I ran and ran and ran because they would have killed us if we stayed. We found ourselves in this place and my mother begged the vampire that was the master here for shelter. She convinced him to take us in, found mercy in him.”

The vampire - Henri Posen - who allowed them to stay was the strangest she had known before. But he gave them protections when they were nothing to him and for that she would always be grateful for him. 

“When I was nineteen his daughter came back from France. He was given bad blood by a servant on the orders of another clan and died in agony.” She shivered as she remembered his screams bouncing off the walls. “We fell in love - I swear I fell for her the moment I saw her and she fell for me soon after she took over his clan. I became her mate and the mistress of this place at her side.” The head of a vampire clan was titled as master regardless of gender and Aubrey never let hers be used against her. 

“And then my uncle took the pack back and demanded Aubrey free me from what he saw as an unholy union. She refused. He promised war. She prepared for it. I couldn’t let vampires die protecting me and I refused to let werewolves die trying to get me back. So I left. For three years I left this place and for three years I left her. And now I am the only Byrne left with the civil war our pack just underwent. And this place is the only place I know we’ll be safe.”

Beca and Chloe’s grip on each other’s hand tightened. They looked at each other and then back to Stacie. 

“Did you love us?” Beca asked, her voice a bare whisper to the person who had shared their bed, their food, their lives for the last eighteen months. “You said you did.”

“I do love both of you” Stacie whispered. “The two of you were my salvation while I was gone. It wasn’t done to warm me at night. It was done because the two of you brought me happiness and I hope I brought you some.”

Chloe - a Beta loved by two Alpha’s who somehow managed to share her - looked at Stacie with worry written all over her face. 

“And now that we’re here?”

Stacie licked her dry lips. “She wants to speak with all of us tonight. I don’t know what her terms will be for us to be here long term.”

Beca leaned against Chloe as they both tried to understand what was going on. “Any chance she’ll kill us on sight?”

“She won’t.” Stacie promised. “She isn’t wicked. She’s hurt I betrayed her and I don’t blame her for it.”

Beca stood, Chloe standing up next to her, their hands holding tight to each other to try to find the strength to face Stacie’s mate. 

“Come on.” Stacie opened the door to lead them down to the sitting room Aubrey told Stacie to bring Beca and Chloe to.

The room that Stacie brought Beca and Chloe down to had plush couches and large windows that gave a beautiful view of the forests around the manor. There was a large fireplace that heated the room to combat the howling wild outside the windows. 

Aubrey stood by the fire looking out one of the windows with a glass of crimson liquid in a crystal glass in her hand with her back to the others. 

“Was the food up to your standards?” 

“Thank you, it was and it was very kind of you to give us so much.” Beca spoke when she looked at Stacie who nodded. 

Aubrey chuckled dryly. “Kind may not be the most fitting term for it but thank you all the same for using it.” She turned to face the two werewolves that Stacie brought to her home. 

They were both thinner than she thought they might be normally. She could see why Stacie would be attracted to them even if they looked like they could use more than a handful of good meals to gather their strength. The one with red hair looked more timid than the smaller one, Aubrey thought as she studied them.

“Anastasia asks for shelter, do you two request the same?” She asked.

“We do.” Beca whispered. 

“Then you will pay the same price as she will. You will pay in blood.”

Stacie stepped from behind the others to stand between them and Aubrey. She balled both of her hands into fists as she was prepared to defend Beca and Chloe from any threat against them. 

“Don’t Aubrey. You have my blood and I know the effect it has on you because I am your mate. You don’t need their blood.” Stacie’s voice was tight.

“Don’t I?” Aubrey tilted her head and gave a rueful smile. “Did you not promise me when you became my mate what was yours was now mine and did I not promise me what was mine was now yours? Are they not yours? Should they not be mine in kind?”

“You never cared about me sharing my body with who I wanted and I gave you the same freedom.” Stacie threw back at her. 

“I don’t care that you shared your body with them.” Aubrey shook her head. “This isn’t even about you vowing a vampire’s lifetime and then walking out the front door after sliding out of my bed on the one night of the fortnight I needed rest. This is about pure, simple vampire law.”

Stacie growled low in her chest. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” Aubrey swirled the liquid in the glass before taking a sip from it. 

“What is going on?” Beca asked, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. 

“I’ve put my mark as an Alpha on you both so because Aubrey and I are mates, she has a claim to both of you under vampire law.” Stacie explained, her voice a low growl. 

“I ask for their blood, you may keep their bodies for yourself if you wish.” Aubrey said simply. 

“Don’t you lay a fang on them. They have nothing to do with what I did to you Aubrey. It was terrible what I did but I saved your clan and my pack from ripping through each other. I stopped a war.” Stacie turned back to her mate, her teeth bared. 

“They will pay for your sins in their blood or they will go back in the cold.” 

Chloe reached her hand out to rest it on Stacie’s arm. “I accept.” 

Aubrey’s eyes moved to the Beta with the cobalt eyes. She couldn’t help but smile at her willingness to stop the argument by offering herself off like an olive branch. 

Both Beca and Stacie looked at her with dropped jaws. They hadn’t expected Chloe to accept in the middle of the back and forth between Aubrey and Stacie. 

“What will happen when you bite me?” Chloe let go of Beca’s hand and stepped around Stacie. She walked halfway between the other wolves and the vampire.

Aubrey set her glass down to make her way towards Chloe as both Alpha’s were frozen to the spot. It was though the vampire was forcing them to stand and watch as Chloe sealed their fate.

When Aubrey reached Chloe she wrapped her arms around the Beta’s waist, bringing her in close. “You will become mine as much as you are theirs. You will stop aging, living as long as I do before the process starts again, you will start healing even faster than your own powers allow and become stronger because of my effect on you. There are other effects but those are the ones that are the most important.”

The Beta felt at ease in the vampire’s arms a lot more than she ever would have anticipated. “Are you using a charm on me? Vampires can do that, can’t they, to creatures who breathe in?”

Aubrey chuckled as she gathered Chloe’s hair to sweep over one shoulder. “You have a good nose, Roux.” She felt her fangs drop as she tilted her head to press a kiss over Chloe’s pulse point. “I do not smell fear on you, do you have none?”

Chloe brought her hands up to rest over Aubrey’s ribcage. “Stacie trusts you and I trust her. I love her and she loves you. I have no reason to fear you and every reason to pay the price you ask for your protection.”

Aubrey grinned as she bit down on Chloe’s neck, biting through her skin and gulping down her blood. She tightened her grip on the Beta’s waist as she took nearly half of the blood in her body. When she was sure she had enough she brought her wrist to Chloe’s pale lips, smirking against her neck when she got the hint and bit down, Aubrey’s blood filling her mouth. The vampire licked Chloe’s neck and her own wrist closed before turning them around and helping Chloe into a chair by the fire to allow her to rest for the moment. 

Beca growled when she came out of whatever trace that Aubrey had her under. “She is kind and good and if you hurt her I will find a way to kill you.” She snapped at Aubrey as she walked over, fangs still down. 

“You are delightful in your anger. I bet you were a top warrior for your pack, weren’t you?” Aubrey smirked.

“I have fought better than you.” Beca barked out.

“I am sure of it.” Aubrey pulled Beca roughly to her and bit down without any of the tenderness that she showed Chloe. When Beca bit at the newly healed wrist she did so without any of the care that Chloe showed. Aubrey took more blood from the smaller body before lifting her up and laying her down on the couch, sealing Beca’s neck and then her own wrist. 

Stacie stood and watched as Aubrey moved to pick up her glass again. When Aubrey stepped close to her, Stacie’s eyes glowed the same golden color they were when she was transformed as a wolf. 

“Welcome home, Anastasia. See they make it to their chambers before you come to bed. I wouldn’t want them to go mad from the loss of blood and end up in the forest. It can be dangerous out there.” Aubrey lifted her hand to stroke Stacie’s cheek with the back of it for just a moment before walking away.

Stacie stood there for a long moment before checking on Beca and making sure Aubrey didn’t harm her for her anger. She moved to her knees next to the couch, stroking her cheek tenderly. 

“She is strong, Stacie. God, she is so strong.” Beca whispered with her eyes closed. “I can feel her blood in my system making me strong too.”

Stacie bent her head to kiss Beca’s lips, tasing Aubrey’s blood on them. She shifted to nuzzle the side of Beca’s neck Aubrey didn’t bite, kissing the tender skin. “Do you think you can walk? I want to get you and Chloe to bed.”

“She took a lot of blood.” Beca whispered. 

Stacie stood and bent down to lift Beca in her arms, feeling the smaller wolf curl into her as she lifted her up in her arms. 

By the time she turned to Chloe, the Beta was on her feet - as shaky as they were - and making her way to lean against Stacie. 

It was slow going to get back up to the rooms they Beca and Chloe would share for now. Chloe wasn’t very steady but Stacie couldn’t carry both and she didn’t want to leave either behind as she took the other up to the room. Finally she used her foot to nudge open the door and walk Beca over to the bed. 

“Here you go, Becs.” Stacie laid Beca in bed when Chloe pulled the blankets back.

“Do you really have to leave us tonight?” Chloe asked with her arm back around Stacie’s waist. 

“I should stay with her tonight if she asked me to.” Stacie bent her head to kiss Chloe. Tasting Aubrey’s blood again only made the ache in her chest grow. She shouldn’t have brought them here but she had no options and at least Aubrey was allowing them to stay. “I’ll come back in the morning and go down to breakfast with you, alright?”

“Alright.” Chloe moved around Stacie to get into bed next to Beca. The two cuddled while Stacie covered them up before she left them for the night.

The master suite was only halfway down the hall but Stacie took her time reaching it. The last three years weighed on her mind as she thought about the anger that she felt through her bond to both Aubrey and the conflicting feelings she felt through her bonds with Beca and Chloe. She felt unsure of what to do next, a feeling of being trapped was never a comfortable one for an Alpha. 

Stacie opened the door to the master bedroom, stepping into the room and pulling the door shut behind her. The room, large with a full sitting room, a master bath that could have it’s own map to get around and the third largest fireplace - after the one in the kitchen and the sitting room - in the manor. 

Aubrey was sitting in a chair by the window, glass still in hand from downstairs. 

“I missed you. For all the sins I have on my soul, Aubrey, not missing you isn’t one.” Stacie kept herself by the door as she looked at her mate sitting there as still as if she were a painting. “I left to try to protect the clan and the pack both. I vowed to both and until the war in the pack broke out I managed it.”

“And the two lovers you took and laid your mark on? They were just there to keep you civilized so you wouldn’t turn into a beast, is that it?” Aubrey whispered. 

“We both took lovers, Aubrey. Even in the time after we became mates.” Stacie defended. 

Aubrey lifted the glass to her lips and drained it. A half second after she set it down Stacie found herself again pinned to a door by the wrist and the neck. 

“I didn’t mark them. I took lovers because desire isn’t a sin for either of us but I never laid my mark on anyone but you before tonight. But you left me and found them and then you dare come back because your wolves decided to go to war anyway. And what, I am to accept your…” She couldn’t bring herself to call them Stacie’s mates. “You brought them to me knowing that by vampire law I could claim them as mine too. So I did because I trusted you and you left and you deserve to hurt for that. They are your weakness. I’m not, but they are.”

Stacie could barely breathe with the tightness of Aubrey’s hand around her throat but she didn’t fight her. She felt the waves of pain gnawing at her insides through their shared bond. 

Aubrey stepped away from Stacie. She shook her head as she watched Stacie gulp for air now that she was able to. 

“I had to mark them.” Stacie rubbed her throat after a few moments of deep breathing. “I took them as mine to save Chloe from being given as a gift to an Alpha that would have tore her to bits and Beca defied my uncle’s direct order and if I hadn’t laid my mark on her, she would have been killed. I didn’t plan to mark them but I had been with both for a while before I did. Loving them was easy once I was around them more often.”

“How noble of you.” Aubrey whispered.

Stacie stepped forward into Aubrey’s space. She knew she was risking more than a bit of discomfort at a half on her throat but she was willing to risk it. 

“I missed you.” Stacie lifted her hand to cup Aubrey’s cheek. “I missed being yours and you being mine. I missed you.” She bent her head down to press her lips to Aubrey’s. 

“You left.” Aubrey whispered after the simple kiss broke. 

“I came back.” Stacie reminded her. She looked at the bed before looking back to Aubrey with a raised eyebrow. 

“Taking me to bed fixes nothing.” Aubrey instinctively wrapped her arms around Stacie’s neck as Stacie wrapped her arms around her waist. 

“No, it doesn’t.” Stacie agreed. 

“You marked them.” Aubrey whispered.

“I did.” Stacie held her a bit tighter. “And I would do it again because they matter to me very much. They were the reason I was able to make it back to you.”

Aubrey hissed as her fangs dropped down.

Stacie growled as she bared her canines.

When Aubrey pulled Stacie back towards their bed Stacie wasn’t sure she would be allowed to sleep tonight but she was sure she wouldn’t mind. 


	2. Roux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somebody’s back on their bullshit. That’s somebody’s me.
> 
> Same sort of thing ends in the first chapter so fair warning there.
> 
> Thanks G for your help as always.

Chloe Beale made her way down from the bedroom to the smaller dining room that breakfast had been served to the werewolves every morning for the last two months.

She let out a yawn as she made her way down the stairs. This place was not a place she ever thought she would feel comfortable in but she was starting to feel more at home here. Aubrey had fed off her and Beca every few days but more or less left them alone outside of those moments, Stacie had shown them the layout of the manor and the lands - she and Beca having marked it as theirs every couple of days.

“Oh, good morning.” Chloe smiled at Aubrey sitting at the table reading the paper when she walked into the dinning room. She had yet to join them in the morning. 

“Morning.” Aubrey said without looking up from the paper. 

Chloe filed her plate with all sorts of breakfast goodies before taking a seat directly across from Aubrey. 

“Where are Anastasia and the little Alpha?” Aubrey asked after a moment. 

“Stacie takes Beca out to walk the property in the mornings at dawn sometimes. They mark it and then usually join me for breakfast in an hour or so. I’m just down early today.” Chloe explained, adding a bit of cream to her coffee. 

Aubrey didn’t comment, just turned the paper to the next page.

“What are you doing today?” Chloe asked after a few long moments of quiet. 

Aubrey folded the paper down to look at the Beta. When she saw interest there, real interest and not the fake kind she was used to when it came to small talk, she tilted her head. 

“You care about my day, do you, Roux?”

Chloe smiled at her. “You’re my mate too, right? Sort of?”

“Sort of. Blood companions would be more correct. Stacie is the only one I have marked directly. But with her mark on you and my mark on her, it is a very grey area.” Aubrey admitted.

“Will you put your mark on me and Beca one day?” Chloe asked.

“Would you want that?” Aubrey looked a bit amused. Before these two wolves entered her life Stacie was the only one that she ever expected to mark.

Chloe thought about it. “I live in your home, you feed off of my blood, my mates are yours. It feels like I should be yours as much as I am theirs. The only things you and I don’t do that I do with them are intimate things.”

Aubrey’s fangs dropped at the mention of intimate things before they slowly pulled back up. She could smell on both Chloe and Beca Stacie’s scent enough that her own desire for them was heightened. Coupled with their taste on her tongue from the feedings it was easy to think of tanking the Beta into her bed. 

“Would you want to have sex, Roux?” Aubrey’s eyebrow rose. 

Chloe’s cheeks went nearly as red as her hair. “Do you know how difficult it is to smell you on Stacie or on Beca or myself after you feed and not wonder what it would be like? Because it’s really hard not to wonder what it would be like when you sink your fangs into my neck what it would be like to have sex afterward.”

Aubrey’s lips curled into a smile at the thought Chloe’s mind wandered during their feedings. 

“Then stay in my chambers tonight.” Aubrey offered.

Chloe looked down as she felt a wave of shyness wash over her. “Will Stacie be with us?”

“Not the first time, no.” Aubrey set her paper to the side and leaned forward in her chair. “I want to see you for who you are when you have no Alpha in the room.”

Chloe nodded her consent at being alone tonight with Aubrey. Beca wasn’t going to like it, she didn’t think Stacie would either, but it was her choice after all. Besides Aubrey was already taking her blood, her body felt like a natural next step. 

“You didn’t have to accept Beca and me being here. As much as you and Stacie are bound together you could have forced her to make us leave. And you didn’t. Thank you for that.” Chloe reached across the table to put her warm hand over Aubrey’s cool one. 

“The three of you have become a unit. It would have been cruel to separate you after all you had been through.” Aubrey turned her hand over to let their palms rest together. 

“You aren’t cruel.” Chloe looked into the green eyes that she always looked into before Aubrey bent her head to feed from her. 

“I try not to be.” Aubrey replied. 

“You haven’t been to Beca and me. You could have been and you haven’t. Even Beca would have to admit that and for an Alpha to share her Beta, even if she already shared me with Stacie, it’s a big deal.” Chloe said softly. 

“How did that happen? Them sharing you?” Aubrey asked.

Chloe looked away from Aubrey. “Alphas get to pick their mates. Beca picked me but another Alpha challenged her. Instead of letting her defend her claim to me, the pack leadership decided the matter and were going to give me to an older Alpha. Stacie stepped in and marked me. As a blood relative of the pack leader she had the right to any unmarked Beta even if they were already promised. A few months later Beca was accused of sleeping with a Beta who already was marked. Me. Stacie marked her to keep her from being killed. Which is seen as a shame on Beca. Alphas shouldn’t let other Alphas claim them. But it allowed Beca and me to be together and we had both been with Stacie. So it allowed all us to keep seeing each other.“

Aubrey knew Stacie was honorable but it seemed she used her mark to make the best of a terrible situation. “She has always tried to be a force for good when she could.”

“She is a force for good. She got her uncle to accept a lot of things that he wouldn’t have without her there. If the infighting hadn’t happened I think she might have been named his heir.” Chloe said with pride in all Stacie had done. 

“She is extraordinary.” Aubrey agreed. “It’s why I made her my mate. She is stronger than anyone I’ve ever known.” 

“She is.” Chloe agreed. “But she missed you. A lot. We talked sometimes. She didn’t tell me your name but she talked about the woman she had to leave to come back to the pack to keep war away. She told me about how much she cared about you, how much she hoped to see you again one day.”

Aubrey made a face. “She did’t have to leave to keep war away. There were other options.”

Chloe wished she believed that for Aubrey’s sake. She turned her head when she heard a low growl coming from behind them. Beca stood at Stacie’s side, her hands balled into fists. 

“Vampire.” Beca still had a growl in her voice as she sat next to Chloe. 

“Soumise.” Aubrey smirked as she used the term. She had a feeling if Beca knew it meant submissive in French she would violently object. 

“I don’t like that I don’t know what that means.’ Beca reached for a cup and poured herself some coffee. 

“Find anything interesting on your morning walk?” Aubrey turned her head up to address Stacie.

Stacie sat on the other side of Chloe, trying to read the room and the interaction between Chloe and Aubrey after the fact. “Nothing unusual.” 

“How many vampires do you have in the woods?” Beca asked. “I can smell them but we never see any.”

“There are a few hundred. Most live underground though and come out at night.” Aubrey explained. 

“Why don’t you?” Beca couldn’t stop her inquisitive side from coming out. 

“The sun holds no harm for the Posen bloodline.” Aubrey said simply. “We have mastered the ability to be up during the day.”

“How?” Beca questioned. 

Aubrey paused, unsure if she should explain to the angry little Alpha or not. Explaining things about herself was always something Aubrey tried not to do even to someone she kept as close as Stacie. 

“It’s alright Aubrey. You can trust her.” Stacie promised.

“My bloodline is very old but it’s not all that pure.” Aubrey admitted. “My family brings in werewolf and magical blood every few generations to make sure that we do not fall prey to the full effects of vampirism. My mother’s mother was part witch and part werewolf.” She admitted with a slight curl of her lip.

“Wait, you’re part wolf?” Beca asked, her eyebrows to her hairline.

“I am.” Aubrey felt her fangs itch to drop but she held them back. “It’s why I can walk in the sunlight with only mild discomfort. Why I am not asleep during the day, why I am able to have a more human side to myself.”

“So if we had children, they would be vampires too?” Chloe asked, her head tilted. 

“They would.” Aubrey nodded.

“How would that even work?” Beca snorted.

“Male and female vampires can sire children with their bite and a little witch’s magic.” Aubrey found it distasteful to speak of such things but the wolves had questions and she found it impossible not to answer. “Male vampires are unable the way a mortal would anyway and once female vampires figured out the magic we found no reason to allow them all the fun.”

“Wait.” Beca growled.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Soumise.” Aubrey rolled her eyes. 

Stacie looked over at the pair before looking back to Aubrey. She had questions of her own but wasn’t sure this was a good moment to ask. Aubrey answering her directly may be influenced with Beca and Chloe in the room. 

“Ask what’s on your mind, Anastasia.” Aubrey turned her head toward Stacie.

“Have you sired any children?” Stacie knew Aubrey not having a direct heir meant someone else had to be named until she did. Which put Stacie in a weaker position long term than she really cared for.

“Unless you had one while you were away, I have not.” Aubrey’s eyes narrowed just a bit at the question.

“No, Aubrey, I didn’t.” Stacie’s voice was low. 

“That will have to change at some point.” Aubrey reminded her. “Unless you wish to pass that duty on to another.” 

“I would rather you didn’t have a bunch of potential heirs running around.” Stacie didn’t care what Aubrey did when she was gone but now that she was back the idea of Aubrey having a child with someone else made her wolf most displeased. “Transitions of power can be messy when that happens.”

“I will limit myself to the three of you then.” Aubrey agreed. 

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Beca said. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a mother.” Chloe lifted her hand off of Aubrey’s to wrap her arm around Beca’s waist. 

Stacie thought about Chloe with a baby in her arms, a smile brought to her face by the image. Chloe would be a good mother - a great mother - if allowed to be. 

“When you are ready and your Alphas allow it I will make it so.” Aubrey looked at Chloe. 

“We don’t control her.” Beca made a face. 

Aubrey just stood up and bowed her head to the three before walking out of the room to take care of what she needed to attend to for the day. She found it best not to engage with the little Alpha if she wanted to get under her skin. 

“Aubrey knows that, Beca.” Stacie breathed out. “But vampires are nothing if not thoughtful about bonds. Chloe has my mark on her and you’re her chosen mate, she wouldn’t do anything serious without our blessing.”

“I’m spending tonight with her.” Chloe whispered. 

“What?” Beca felt her heart stop.

Chloe turned to Beca, the arm around her waist tightening. “She and we are bonded to each other, Beca. I want to try and find happiness in all of this. I want us all to try to be happy together.”

“You have nothing to say to this?” Beca demanded of Stacie.

Stacie sat back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. “It’s a good idea.” She had to admit Aubrey and Chloe spending time together might be a very good idea. 

“You have to be joking.” Beca growled again. 

“Beca.” Stacie got up to get them both a plate of food. “Aubrey is my mate and I’m bound to her as she is bound to me. And both of you wear my mark and her bite. If she can find an attachment point to the pair of you outside of just feeding from you and sharing this home with you, that strengthens all of this.” She put a plate in front of Beca before taking her seat.

“Aubrey needs an heir at some point.” Stacie reminded her. “And Chloe wants kids, you do too even if you fight the idea of it because you didn’t like having to let a male do what they would have needed to.” 

Beca made a gagging face.

“I do want children.” Chloe leaned over to kiss Beca’s jaw.

“I know.” Beca sighed.

Stacie did too even if that wasn’t the point of this conversation. By vampire law any children she and Aubrey had together would take precedence as heir of the clan unless Aubrey named another child as her heir. Which as of right now she didn’t have.

“She likes you, Becs.” Stacie told Beca. “She wouldn’t call you Soumise if she didn’t. She would use your name or call you Alpha.”

Beca snorted. 

“You can’t tell me when she feeds on you that you don’t feel chemistry with her.” Chloe took a piece of bacon off of Beca’s plate. 

Beca didn’t comment because lying to Chloe was something she tried never to do. The problem wasn’t she didn’t feel anything for Aubrey - inside or outside of being fed on - the problem was she didn’t want to feel anything for her. 

“The four of us are bound together, Beca. Fighting it won’t work at this point.” Stacie pointed out. 

“Still going to try.” Beca grumbled. 

—————

As the hours ticked by Chloe started to become more nervous about spending the night with Aubrey. She wasn’t overly worried about her own safety. She had been alone with Aubrey when she fed from her and came out of the encounters no worse for wear. 

Yet walking down the hallway from the bedroom that Stacie and Beca would be sharing for the night, Chloe felt a herd of elephant sized butterflies in her belly. She loved her two Alphas. They were her saviors in a pack that all too often had little regard for the wellbeing of the Betas. 

“Come in.” Aubrey could hear Chloe’s heart pounding outside her door before Chloe’s hand could knock on it. 

Chloe slipped into the room, leaning on the door once she shut it. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest just by being in the room. So far anytime Aubrey wanted to feet she had her or Beca go to her study. 

Aubrey was sitting with her back to Chloe as she used a cloth to take off her makeup. She was still wearing the dress pants and silk dress shirt she had at breakfast. The reflection in the mirror visible, a gift from the non vampire blood in her veins. 

“So you do have a reflection.” Chloe moved to sit on the side of the bed while she watched Aubrey.

“Another gift from my mother’s side of the family.” Aubrey confirmed.

Chloe watched as Aubrey finished taking her makeup off. There was something about the way she carried herself in this room that she hadn’t seen before. An ease that Chloe wanted to see more of. 

“I know Stacie bringing Beca and I here wasn’t part of your plan.” Chloe looked at Aubrey’s reflection as she used her nimble fingers to braid her hair. “But the part of me that believes in fate believes we were brought to you for a reason. That the four of us are meant to be connected to each other.”

“That is a beautiful story to tell our children one day. I had to stop believing in those stories a long time ago.” Aubrey looked at Chloe’s reflection in her mirror. 

“How…Are you…When were you…” Chloe tried - and failed - to find a way to ask Aubrey just how old she was. 

Aubrey chuckled at Chloe trying to find tact. 

“Anastasia had the same shudder to her speech when she tried to ask me how old I was.” 

Chloe bit her lip, raising an eyebrow. She wondered if Aubrey would make her ask or if she would offer the information without being asked directly. When Aubrey didn’t divulge her age Chloe steadied herself. 

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-two.” 

Chloe was surprised both by the direct nature of the answer and the answer itself. 

“Not all vampires are hundreds of years old.” Aubrey replied.

“You carry yourself with such confidence, I assumed that came with age.” Chloe watched as Aubrey stood up from the vanity and turned to face her. 

“Born with too much pride I’m afraid.” Aubrey looked Chloe up and down.“Anastasia is twenty-four now, am I to assume you are of a like age?”

“Twenty-five.” Chloe nodded. “Beca is too.”

Aubrey walked over to the bed, standing in front of Chloe. She reached a hand out, her skin cool against Chloe’s warm cheek. Her touch was tender as her green eyes locked with Chloe’s blue. 

“I meant what I said before. I will happily make you a mother one day when you are ready and your Alphas allow it. Both to grow my clan and because I can sense the desire in you to hold a child of your own.” Aubrey’s hand moved to Chloe’s neck, her thumb tracing over bite marks she left.

Chloe swallowed at the feeling of Aubrey’s hand on her throat. “They will let me decide when I’m ready. And when you are I will be.”

“When a female pair of an Alpha and a Beta want pups, what must be done?” Aubrey wondered. She had a feeling the answer was not one that would be too pleasing to the female Alpha.

“In the pack we were members of? If it’s allowed by the leaders, a male Alpha is brought in.” Chloe whispered. “Often the female Alpha has difficulties with watching, sometimes to the point of being restrained. It is rarely as enjoyable a process for anyone but the male Alpha. Even if they choose it to have a family.”

Aubrey’s eyes flashed red with anger at the processes they would have had to undertake. It sounded cruel for the sake of it, something she hated. She wanted to wipe packs like that off of every map she could get her hold on but she had little ability to do so without a cost high enough she could not pay it. 

“Nothing I ever do to you should cause you pain.” Aubrey promised as she cupped Chloe’s jaw and tilted it up. She bent down and brushed a kiss over her lips before she stepped back. “The bathroom is through the door behind you. You’ll find something to change into there.”

Chloe moved off the bed and through the door, closing it behind her. The bathroom was larger than the one in the accommodations that she and Beca stayed in but not by much. The shower was larger and there was a second sink but otherwise it was much the same ornate stonework that she found so beautiful. 

On the counter between the sinks was a simple grey long sleeve shirt and matching sleep pants. Chloe wasn’t sure what she expected but she was glad to see it wasn’t something that would make her feel exposed. After changing into the provided clothes, washing her face clean and using the toothbrush left out for her, she folded her clothes and put them in the hamper she assumed she was allowed to use. 

“Did you find everything alright?” Aubrey asked her spot on the bed. 

“I did.” Chloe slipped between the blanket and sheets of the bed. 

The pair laid on their sides facing each other with about a foot between them. Aubrey’s head resting on her hand while Chloe’s head rested on the pillow. 

“Do you need to sleep?”

“About once every fortnight or so I am compelled to sleep.” Aubrey answered. “I sleep most nights out of habit now that Anastasia has returned.”

Chloe moved her hand - palm up - between them on the bed. She wanted to feel Aubrey’s cool skin against her warm, the feeling of the contrast in temperatures somehow a comfort. 

Aubrey’s left hand slid over Chloe’s as her fingers found spade between Chloe’s. Touching the Beta bought calm over Aubrey in a way no one outside of Stacie had ever before.

“Why do you always call her Anastasia?” Chloe asked.

“It’s a beautiful name and she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known when I first saw her. The moment I saw her I felt my heart beat for a few seconds. A rare experience to be sure.” Aubrey whispered. “You hold such beauty yourself.” 

Chloe blushed under the complement. “You’re one to talk.”

Aubrey chuckled softly. “Thank you.”

Chloe toyed with Aubrey’s fingers, her eyes looking at Aubrey’s mouth. “When you offered to have me stay here tonight to do intimate things I assumed once I walked in I would be a fly trapped in a spider’s web. I didn’t expect laying in bed talking with you. I like it.”

“Maybe I like to toy with my meals before I consume them.” Aubrey’s fangs dropped at the mention of intimate acts. 

Chloe’s eyes traced over the fangs. “Will you feed from me tonight?”

Aubrey nodded as she moved a bit closer to Chloe. “I do not plan to undress you tonight, Roux. I have ways to bring about intimate acts without the need for you to lay naked under me.”

“Where is the fun in that?” Chloe felt her breathing hitch at the intensity Aubrey was looking at her. 

“Lay in my arms and I will show you.” Aubrey whispered. 

Chloe found herself pulled into Aubrey’s by her own curiosity. The way they fit together was different than Beca holding her with her smaller frame or Stacie with her taller frame. She and Aubrey weren’t that different in size but she felt the strength radiating off of her.

“Close your eyes and just breath in and out.” Aubrey’s voice took on an almost musical tone as some of her charm soaked into Chloe’s blood. The charm would put Chloe into a trance as she fed. The feeling of blood being pulled acting as though Aubrey’s hands were between her thighs. It was not something Aubrey did often but it would allow her to feed on the Beta and bring her pleasure the first time in a more controlled way.

Vampires were always standing on the knife’s edge of being in control and losing it. Aubrey knew the feeling of that control slipping away from her and what could happen to her lover when she gave in to all of her primal urges. Stacie still bore scars that would never fade on her back from that night.

The charm allowed Aubrey to get a sense of how she reacted to Chloe in the midst of her pleasure and desensitize herself to it before having a more hands on experience. If this was a single night she wouldn’t bother with it and force herself to keep her head about her. But this relationship would be happening for the foreseeable future so care was needed to be taken. 

The effects of the charm hit Chloe like a ton of bricks. Her body felt as though Aubrey’s hands were everywhere even as they stayed on her waist. It was though her lips moved up and down her body even as she felt them planted against her neck. 

“Oh.” Chloe breathed out. “Don’t stop.” 

Aubrey held her a little closer, dosing her a little more as Chloe gripped her tightly and wiggled against her, rocking against her thigh. She smirked before biting down on Chloe’s neck, feeling her mouth fill with blood. The charm affected her in kind if delivered via blood and right now Chloe’s blood was full of her charm. 

The pair rocked against each other while Aubrey fed. Pleasure washing over them as Aubrey hungrily gulped down Chloe’s blood. They clung to each other as the charm leaked into the air Chloe breathed and then by her blood was fed back to Aubrey. 

Finally Aubrey pulled back, both a bit sweaty and weak from the pleasure. She licked at Chloe’s neck to seal her bite marks before resting her forehead against the Beta. 

“How was that for pleasure, Roux?” 

Chloe’s eyes glowed a golden hue as she opened them to look at Aubrey with a satisfied grin on her lips. “Anytime you want to do that, anytime, I am game.”

Aubrey chuckled as she tucked Chloe against her chest so the pair could sleep.

—————

Aubrey knew there were others in the room even as her eyes stayed closed. She knew the tempo of Stacie’s heartbeat and the other belonged to the little Alpha. She didn’t move or give them any reason to believe she was anything but still in a deep sleep.

“Chlo?” Beca whispered as she looked over what of her she could see to make sure she was alright. 

“Aubrey wouldn’t hurt her, Becs.” Stacie stayed on Aubrey’s side of the bed. 

Aubrey was still holding Chloe to her chest as they had been when they fell to sleep the night before. Both had their arms around the other’s waist with their legs tangled, forehead to forehead, a little dried blood on Chloe’s neck. 

The pair looked every bit the happy lovers they had been the night before. 

“Says you.” Beca moved on the bed behind Chloe to try to wake her without waking Aubrey.

“Anastasia is right, Soumise. Your mate is unharmed.” Aubrey’s eyes opened and locked with Beca’s. Her hand paused midair where she had been reaching for Chloe’s shoulder. “But she is still sleeping.”

Beca growled as was so often her reaction to Aubrey. 

“Lay down and let her sleep. I took a lot of blood last night and she had a lot of my charm running through her. When she does wake, she could use your arms to turn to as she comes back to herself.” Aubrey offered.

“You want me to lay with the pair of you in your bed?” Beca snorted.

“I do.” 

Beca huffed a bit but didn’t want to be thrown out of the room. She moved behind Chloe under the blankets as Stacie moved behind Aubrey to hold her. Her arms wrapped around Chloe’s waist even as her arms rested on top of Aubrey’s. It was more comfortable than she cared to admit.

“Last night went well.” Stacie didn’t need to ask to smell the effects of last night hanging still in the air. 

“It did.” Aubrey agreed. “Roux handled the charm well and my control was never an issue.” 

“Has your control been an issue in the past?” Beca lifted her head. 

“Once. Stacie has a few scars on her back from my hands.” Aubrey didn’t have the energy to lie to the little Alpha. 

“It wasn’t nearly as dramatic as you think, Beca.” Stacie slipped her hand under Aubrey’s shirt to rest her hand against the vampire’s skin. “Aubrey gripped too hard and her nails broke my skin. It’s the series of scars near my shoulders.”

Beca didn’t like it very much but she put her head back down behind her mate’s. She breathed in, pressing a few soft kisses to the back of Chloe’s neck. 

“I love her. I have since before I knew what the word really meant.” Beca closed her eyes as she spilled her guts to a vampire she still wasn’t sure she trusted. “When I was old enough to decide on my mate there was no question who I wanted. I was so proud when she accepted and when her mother agreed. And then I was challenged and never allowed to defend my claim to her. And Stacie saved us both. But I didn’t save her. I’ve never been allowed to save her. I am just an Alpha marked by another Alpha, marked by a vampire now too. No one bares my mark as I was never allowed to mark Chloe. No Alpha at all really.”

Aubrey shifted her head without moving anymore of herself than she needed to be able to look at the little Alpha that laid behind the Beta claimed by all of them. She thought about the pain she sensed when the Alpha spoke and the anger that still colored her words even as she was grateful for all Stacie did for her and for Chloe. This was a matter of respect now in her mind. 

“Mark me with your mark and I will wear it as proudly as I wear Anastasia. You are an Alpha, Soumise. Yes, you belong to me and to Anastasia but we should belong to you in kind as a matter of respect.” Aubrey offered. 

“What?” Beca sat up to look at the vampire. 

“I am a clan leader and from one of the oldest bloodlines in the vampire world. Allowing your mark on me is of sizable consequence. It will force me to make you my mate and your status will rise to match Anastasia.”

Aubrey shifted away from Chloe being careful not to wake her before she took her shirt off to show Stacie’s mark on her right shoulder; it was a simple A inside of a circle. She laid on her front to give Beca the chance to place her mark for the first time on another. 

“Stacie…I…” Beca looked at the Alpha.

“Aubrey’s the clan leader, on this land she is the master when it comes to clan matters.” Stacie sat up. “And who she takes as a mate is a clan matter.”

“You’re still her mate.” Beca said.

“I am.” Stacie agreed. “But I have no say under vampire law if she takes a second.”

“Under our pack laws you do.” Beca pointed out. 

“What pack?” Chloe whispered, shifting to her back. “They stripped the three of us of our membership to the pack before the war escalated to try to have our allies give us up, remember?”

Beca closed her eyes as she tried to think if she could do it. Mark a vampire as hers. She felt her left hand shake as she traced the pale flesh of Aubrey’s shoulder where her mark would go. 

“After her, mark Chloe and me, alright?” Stacie looked at Beca. “The four of us are bound to each other. Chloe doesn’t have a mark as a Beta but I should wear yours if you have mine.”

Beca felt a few tears be brushed away and looked down to see Chloe’s doing it. She bent down, kissing her deeply before shifting to reach over her to Aubrey’s shoulder again. 

“I claim what is mine to take.” Beca whispered as her hand transformed enough to mark Aubrey’s shoulder with a backwards R inside of a triangle. She bent over Chloe to lap at the blood as she felt herself warm up and then cool down as the mark took hold. The mark on Aubrey’s right shoulder shimmered as both understood the place of the other. 

Beca marked Stacie and finally Chloe the same way. She cried as she carved her mark into Chloe’s skin, years of longing and sleepless nights coming to be realized before her eyes. She wiped at her eyes as she laid down next to Chloe, holding on as tightly as she dared.

“Give me your left wrist, Soumise.” Aubrey whispered as she sat up. She kept her shirt off to let the mark be seen by anyone who might look at her shoulder. 

Beca held her wrist up to Aubrey who bit down on it, leaving the same mark there as Stacie had. She whispered in Latin her vow of everlasting commitment. Once Beca had her arm back it was Chloe’s turn to take on a third mark of being claimed. She did so proudly. 

“How do you feel?” Chloe asked as all four laid together. 

“Oddly satisfied.” Beca gave a shy smile. 

“I am pleased to hear that, Soumise.” Aubrey shivered when Stacie traced her mark on Aubrey’s shoulder. 

Beca looked over at Aubrey. “Will you ever tell me what “Soumise” means?”

“Submissive in French.” Aubrey said with a raise of her eyebrow. 

Beca had to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are my love language.


	3. Soumise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, some more fun at Posen manor. 
> 
> Thanks again to G for being the best.

Beca had been at Posen Manor for six months. Six months of freedom, no work to be done, no hunts to plan, no training to make her mind sharp and her body sore. 

She hated it. 

No, that wasn’t right. She loved the newfound place she had in Aubrey’s master chambers. Usually behind Chloe so the two Alphas could keep their Beta and vampire safe in the middle. They didn’t need to, Aubrey had guards outside the manor and a few inside that kept out of sight, but it made the pair sleep better knowing they had the other two between them. 

As Beca paced the smell room she was in she felt a blush creep up her neck as the thought of what they did in that bed when they weren’t sleeping. If she had known what it would be like to have the three lovers she did maybe she wouldn’t have fought so hard the first few months she was here. She learned just how impressive Aubrey was and Chloe and Stacie she already knew. 

Beca moved to stand by the fire as she waited for Aubrey to return to her study. She usually didn’t come in here when Aubrey wasn’t in the room but she wanted to talk to her without Stacie or Chloe around to hear it. She felt useless and didn’t want the two wolves to see how on edge it was making her. 

“Soumise.” Aubrey opened the door, sensing her rapidly beating heart. 

“I need to speak with you. Please.” Beca turned her head to look at Aubrey.

“Alright.” Aubrey walked across the room to set some papers on her desk before turning and leaning against it. 

“I need you to give me a job. Security. Training with your vampires, training them. I don’t care. I need something to do. Stacie had your library with as many books as that brilliant mind can read. Chloe has been helping with the running of the manor and she is a natural at it. But I have nothing of my own. I need a task. And protecting you and them is something I can be useful in.” Beca wasn’t quite able to look at Aubrey as she spoke, rambled on really.

Aubrey opened her arms and smiled when Beca found her way between them without any of the hesitation that she would have had only a few short months ago. She wrapped the little Alpha up as Beca nuzzled her neck to find her own comfort. 

“If you want to lead my security team you will need to learn to break my charm. Breaking a vampire’s charm is the hardest task you can learn and once you master it I will arrange for you to take over the details that run around the property.” Aubrey stroked Beca’s back.

“Thank you.” Beca said against Aubrey’s neck. 

“Soumise, this will be difficult training. Do not thank me for putting you through it.” Aubrey said.

“I like difficult.” Beca moved her hands to Aubrey’s waist. 

“I have noticed that.” Aubrey snorted.

Beca nipped at Aubrey’s neck, feeling herself relax after being granted the ability to have a space made for her in Aubrey’s world. She was good at what she did, protecting people and making sure that things ran like clockwork when it came to changes in people or routes. It was the only use for herself the pack never questioned. 

“How do I break your charm?” Beca asked as she pulled back.

Aubrey lifted her hand up to stroke over Beca’s cheek with the back of it. “You have to focus on the effects of it and then learn to block them. A vampire’s charm can compel you to do anything. If you can break mine you’ll break anyone’s.”

“When do we start?” Beca hoped it would be right away. 

“Tonight.” Aubrey chuckled at her eagerness and the pout. “I will have Anastasia and Chloe stay in the guest accommodations to give us some privacy.”

Beca leaned in again to nuzzle Aubrey’s neck. “You have given me more than I could ever repay.” 

“You have brought joy to my life, Soumise.” Aubrey kissed the side of her head near her temple. 

“I should leave it to whatever it is you do during the day.” Beca stepped back.

Aubrey walked away the desk as Beca walked to the door. “If you want to train, go outside the main doors and walk into the forest. Call out for Lilly. She will put you through your paces.”

Beca turned back from the door was a grin on her face at the ability to do some training. She missed the way her body ached after a good training, the way she felt her mind sharpen as she trained. 

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank you for allowing you to train with Lilly. She will test your limits like no other could.” Aubrey sat down at her desk. 

“I can totally take her.” Beca smirked.

—————

It turns out Lilly was a harder vampire to battle against than Beca thought she would be. She was about the same size as Beca but faster than she had seen before and willing to battle in ways Beca wasn’t used to with fighting other werewolves. 

It was the most fun Beca had had in ages when she finally brought herself inside. She had leaves and a stick in her hair, a limp from a hit to her left leg, some blood on her skin. She would heal in a day or two, maybe three at the very most, but she knew at the moment she looked like a mess. 

“What happened?” Stacie asked, her voice a low growl as she prepared to go confront the person who did this to Beca.

“Nothing like you’re thinking.” Beca had her arm wrapped around herself. It made trying to calm the stairs to go take a warm bath a bit easier. “Aubrey let me go train with one of her vampires and we both got a little intense. Nothing a hot bath and some rest won’t take care of.”

Stacie carefully lifted Beca into her arms so she could walk her upstairs herself. She was going to take care of her mate even if she was angry at another for allowing Beca to train hard enough she was this beat up. 

“Thanks.” Beca let out a small whimper as Stacie jostled her a bit as she walked up the stairs. She rested her head against Stacie’s shoulder as the taller werewolf brought her to the bathroom in the master suite. 

“Can you undress yourself?” Stacie asked, having her sit on the toilet. 

“Yeah, I think so.” Beca started to work her boots off as Stacie turned around and started to get her bath ready for her. She watched as Stacie added a bit of lavender oil to the water to soothe her. 

“Did you win the training battles?” Stacie asked as she helped Beca take her pants off when she was ready. 

“Most were draws but some of the best sparring I’ve ever done.” Beca managed a grin even with a busted lip. She had never been in this much pain after training with someone but she had never had someone train with her who was so good either. Most of the male Alphas she trained with were strong but had little understanding of how bodies worked. This Lilly knew just how to battle her. 

Stacie saw the joy in Beca’s face and it did draw the anger out of her a bit. Beca was bred to be a warrior and despite her size she had always been able. Honestly Stacie thought if it were important Beca could beat her without too much trouble. 

“Here you go, Becs.” Stacie helped Beca into the warm water before putting a towel down and getting on her knees to clean her off. 

Beca closed her eyes as Stacie tended to her. Usually this would be something that Chloe would handle but it was kind of nice having the other Alpha taking care of her like this. She reached out to stroke at Stacie’s forearm as she cleaned out a cut on her thigh. 

“Aubrey is going to let me take over the security duties.” Beca opened one eye to look at Stacie. “I needed a job, something to make me useful.” She licked some blood off of her lips before using her left hand to clean her lips off. 

“It will be a good job for you.” Stacie looked at Beca’s face, seeing the nervous pride she wore. “Just remember to make sure you aren’t directly in the line of fire. Chloe and Aubrey, they need you. I need you.” Her voice was softer than it usually was and bore none of the teasing that was so common between them.

“I know.” Beca reached down to press her hand to the not quite there bump that was under Stacie’s shirt. “Don’t tell Chloe you carried me up here. She won’t like it very much.”

“I’m pregnant, Becs. I’m not dying.” Stacie leaned over the side of the tub to press a kiss against her mate’s temple. 

About three months ago Stacie decided it was a good idea not only to solidify her position as Aubrey’s mate but Aubrey’s own position in the clan. Them having a child before Aubrey had one with Chloe or Beca wasn’t strictly needed but Stacie did have a side to her that felt it should be her as the first mate Aubrey had. 

“Still.” Beca whispered. “That little bean in there is Aubrey’s heir. And kind of my kid too with us all being mates. I want to make sure they aren’t stressed out from you carrying me up stairs.”

“My protective little Alpha.” Stacie felt warmth at the protectiveness Beca shower over her. 

Beca didn’t comment directly on the term but she did lift herself up enough in the water to kiss her. She felt the battle that happened when the two of them kissed and somehow it settled her down. The feeling of something she knew she could count on. 

“Aubrey is going to have me work on breaking her charm tonight so you and Chloe are kicked out of the room for the night. I get the sense that it’s a pretty intense process.” Beca informed Stacie of the plans for tonight. 

“It is. I had to go through it when she made her her mate. She refused to put her mark on me if I couldn’t break it.” Stacie remembered being younger then, not only in years lived but experiences. She hadn’t made choices that saw people die because of them when she became Aubrey’s mate - she could no longer say that.

“Any tips?” 

“No. This is something you’ll have to figure out yourself.” 

Beca shifted to let Stacie wash her hair. She loved the feeling of someone washing her hair - usually Chloe did it for her if they showered together. 

“She has been good to us.”

“She has. The way she has accepted you and Chloe was more than I could have dreamed of when we came here.” Stacie used a vessel to clean the shampoo from Beca’s hair, careful not to get any in her eyes.

“You’re worried the happiness won’t last, aren’t you?” Beca asked, keeping her eyes closed as Stacie worked her hands through her hair to make sure it was shampoo free.

“I’m worried once Aubrey has her heir and a few spares that she won’t need me anymore and I will feel the full weight of my trespasses against her in her treatment of me.” Stacie admitted. “She is more powerful than she lets on both personally and in terms of her clan. She controls a clan that takes up space from Maine to Georgia, crosses the Appalachian mountains and goes out towards the great plains.”

“I didn’t know it was that big.” Beca admitted softly. 

“She doesn’t let on to how much weight is on her shoulders but I can see the cracks sometimes.” Stacie found Beca’s hand with her own and held it.

“Her smile. When it is forced, there is also pain to the process of trying to force it.” Beca agreed. 

“I need to talk to her about not allowing me to help her. Clans the size of this one rarely have the master running it without their mate’s help. Her trying to do it all on her own I think is burning her out. But I don’t know if she trusts me enough to allow me any control.” Stacie slowly stood up to help Beca out.

“She’s putting me in control of her own security, Chloe runs her household and you’re carrying her heir. There has to be some trust there, doesn’t there?” Beca asked, moving a bit better after soaking in the hot water. 

“I hope so.” Stacie wrapped her up in a towel and then her arms.

—————

Chloe was none too pleased when she saw Beca at dinner. Beca was just glad she didn’t see her when Stacie had less she had a pissed off Beta on her hands with puppy dog eyes that could get her to do anything. But Aubrey assured Chloe that Lilly wouldn’t do any lasting damage to their little Alpha and Stacie managed to get her upstairs to the guest accommodations without Chloe demanding Beca never train with another vampire. 

As Beca followed Aubrey upstairs to the master chambers she watched her carefully. She watched to try and gauge what kind of day she had and see if there was anything she could do before their training to ease her mate’s mind. 

“You are watching me very closely tonight, Soumise.” 

Beca blushed at being caught by Aubrey as the vampire opened the door to her chambers for the pair to enter it. 

“I am trying to figure out how your day was.”

“You could have asked.”

Beca moved to sit on the bed as Aubrey went to take off her makeup like she did every night when she had retired for the evening. There were nights she had meetings or work to be completed. Tonight it was just her training with Beca and for that she wanted comfort. 

“Sometimes I don’t know where my limits are with you.” Beca admitted.

“You’re my mate.” Aubrey cleaned her eye makeup off with practiced ease. 

“Am I allowed to love you though?” Beca asked.

“Allowed or not has never had anything to do with love. If you want to love me you have all rights to do so. We share a bed most nights, I feed from your blood, one day we may have a child together.” Aubrey pointed out to her.

“How was your day?” Beca tried the question on for size.

Aubrey chuckled before answering. “It was rather ordinary. There are no major campaigns on at the moment, the diplomatic units I have deployed are making progress with a few tasks set before them, a new vampire settlement is being built outside of Louisville and the project has gone off without a hitch so far. Most of today was checking in on projects and reading reports.” 

Beca played with her own fingers. “So you’re like a lord back in like England or France then? Overseeing your lands and protecting your people.”

“Maybe a ruler in Germany during the Holy Roman Empire. But yes. I sit as the head of the Council of Vampires and they are the only body that has the power to do anything against my clan. They still can only force my hand so far though.” Aubrey finished taking her makeup off before walking over to the bed. 

“So I mated up in the world?” Beca asked, seeing the hunger in Aubrey’s eyes.

“That is a fair assessment.” Aubrey put a hand on each side of Beca before leaning in to kiss her. Her fangs were down as she let Beca’s tongue wrap around one of them as the kiss deepened. 

“I like touching your fangs.” Beca admitted when the kiss broke.

“That is very good for me. The pleasure of you licking at them is rather intense.” Aubrey pecked at her lips again before standing back up.

“As good as when I lick other places?” Beca questioned.

“Yes.”

Beca looked smug as she sat on the bed waiting for direction. 

“Undress for me? We’re going to do this from the middle of the bed and being undressed will give me access without worrying about clothing binding up.” Aubrey started to undo her own top. 

“Access?” Beca smirked as she stood and started to take her clothes off. 

“Behave. Not like that.” Aubrey chuckled. 

“Pity.” Beca said. 

“Lilly reported back to me that you’re one of the best fighters she’s ever faced.” Aubrey pulled the shirt off to toss it in the hamper. 

“She was incredible out there.” Beca moved to lay on the bed once she was free of her clothing.

“She is one of the most seasoned fighters I have. If she says you’re one of the best then it is very high praise.” Aubrey finished undressing, moving up on the bed and under the covers next to Beca. 

Beca reached out to tangle her fingers with Aubrey’s. Even if she was going to be charmed and even if she didn’t always know where the lines were between them she was still her mate and liked holding her hand when they laid in bed together. She really was a romantic at heart. 

“I am going to put you under my charm in a moment. The first time I do I don’t want you to fight it. I want you just to get used to the sensation of it. I will withdraw the charm and we can talk about what you felt. Then we’ll try it again and see if you can start poking at the edges.” Aubrey rubbed her thumb over Beca’s.

“Alright.” Beca nodded. “How do you want me?”

Aubrey tugged at her to come into her arms. She liked the way the smaller woman fit against her and it would allow her charm to take faster action if they were closer together. 

“Close your eyes and just breath in and out.”

Beca did as she was told. At first she thought she might fall to sleep but as the seconds ticked by a new sensation started to spread through her. The desire to comply with whatever Aubrey might ask or allow whatever Aubrey might do to her sunk into her mind as she laid in the vampire’s arms. It was an all consuming type of submission that she had never felt before. 

“Lift your right arm.”

Beca lifted the arm that had been wrapped around Aubrey’s waist high in the arm. 

“Put your arm back.”

Beca tucked her arm back around Aubrey.

“Growl.” 

Beca’s face scrunched up before she let out a low, menacing growl.

Aubrey pressed a kiss to Beca’s forehead before she pulled her out from under the weight of the charm. She didn’t want to do anything - at least yet - that was too intensive or would exhaust her too much. 

Beca let out another growl once she was out from the charm. “I do not like that feeling.”

“Good. Some do and it makes learning to break it more difficult.” Aubrey brought her hand up to cup Beca’s cheek. “Tell me how it felt to be under the charm?”

Beca tucked her head under Aubrey’s chin. “Like I was floating in a pool of water and I couldn’t tell what was air and what was water. Like I was doing things without thinking the thoughts that led to them. It was like any ability I had to think, to be my own person was replaced with a need to follow your voice.”

Aubrey stroked over the back of the Alpha’s neck. “I am going to put you under again. This time I want you to try and fight against the commands. You will fail so let the frustration fuel you.”

Beca didn’t like failing at a task like this but she didn’t expect herself to get it right away. She nodded to Aubrey to put her under as she held herself closer to her vampire. 

Instead of lifting or lowering her arm or letting out a growl, Aubrey decided once Beca was under the charm to force her to confess things about her she knew the Alpha wouldn’t ever want to admit. It would give Beca something real to fight against that a growl could never fuel.

“Tell me about the day Chloe became Anastasia’s.” Aubrey’s voice was smooth as silk.

The hesitation wasn’t Beca fighting the charm but trying to put into words the memories. Memories even years later she had to try and block out to keep her tender heart from being carved up. 

“I found out in the middle of the day that Stacie had put her mark on Chloe. I ran and ran and ran from where I was to where Stacie had made her home. Miles and miles I ran and ran and when I got there I was covered in sweat with tears down my face. I asked her if it was true and hit her when she confirmed it. She wiped the blood off of her mouth and hugged her even as my fists pounded against her chest. I cried in her arms for what felt like hours.” 

Aubrey closed her eyes at the experience Beca survived. 

“I had been with Stacie and so had Chloe but Chloe and I were waiting because I wanted to treat her properly if I was going to make her my mate. I thought the fact the two of us hadn’t been together would be a sign to the pack leadership I was respectful. They used it as a sign I was an unfit Alpha.” Beca let out a growl at the thought of her former pack. “I came back that night and stood outside the window to listen to them. I needed to make sure Chloe would be alright. I needed to be there if she called out for me even if I knew Stacie wouldn’t hurt her. I needed to hear her howl.” 

Aubrey kissed her forehead as she let the charm recede. 

Beca shot out of her arms, nearly tumbling out of the bed as her heartbeat raced at the story she just told Aubrey. She shook a bit under the weight of all of the things she just said. 

“Not. Cool. Dude.” Beca growled at Aubrey, baring her teeth. 

“I needed to think of a story you wouldn’t want to tell me to allow you the best chance of breaking out of the charm.” Aubrey stretched her arm out to Beca to pull her back to her. 

Beca didn’t take the offered hand for a few long moments before she allowed herself to be pulled into Aubrey’s arms. She held tight to her, feeling weak after the emotion she felt telling the story and trying to prevent the words from coming out. 

“I screamed as I spoke. I screamed inside of my head to try to stop the words. I didn’t want to tell you any of it. I pounded on the walls of whatever place I was trapped in my head. I never want you to know I was outside of their window that night.” Beca whispered. 

“Do they know?” 

“Stacie does. She told me about a week later she could smell me outside. She let me start seeing Chloe and then when it was found out she marked me. After that the three of were together as much as either of us were with Chloe ourselves. I don’t know if Chloe ever found out or if her focus was on Stacie more than the scents in the air.” Beca answered. 

Aubrey rubbed up and down Beca’s back. She could feel Beca’s anger, her sadness, her pain at all the pack took from her over the years. 

“You love her well, you know. Her and Stacie and even me in your way. You are a needed part of all of this.” Aubrey whispered. 

Beca snorted softly. “Stacie is an Alpha and a Byrne by blood. You’re a vampire princess or master or whatever. And Chloe has the both of you to protect and love her.”

“And you. She has you. I have you. Anastasia has you.” Aubrey reminded her. 

Beca shrugged one shoulder. 

“I marked you as mine and I wear your mark on my shoulder. You are my mate as much as I am yours or Anastasia’s. Do not slander yourself around me or I will take action against you.” Aubrey pressed her forehead to Beca’s. 

Beca hugged her tighter. “You’re really going to let me take over your security team?”

“I am.” Aubrey promised. “I need to start allowing Anastasia more of a seat at the table. You being my head of security gives you one too on your own merits.” 

“So I’d get a say in how things work?” Beca questioned.

“You would.” Aubrey confirmed. “I trust your thoughts when it comes to war and security.” She trailed her fingers down to rest against the small of Beca’s back. 

“I have a lot of thoughts and I don’t know much of your clans way of doing things.” Beca admitted with a grin. “I want to make sure when the baby comes that everything is set. I don’t want anyone to think they will be able to try anything.”

Aubrey gave a smile at the thought of how seriously Beca took all of this. Giving her a task was more needed than she anticipated. 

“Anastasia will be showing soon. I will have to formally announce that she’s pregnant.” 

“What does that mean in terms of a formal announcement?” Beca asked.

“I have to get out the good card stock. They are hand delivered by members of the clan’s council to the heads of the other major clans and our allies. There would be gifts sent and some visits after the baby is born.” Aubrey explained.

The idea of visits made Beca tense up.

“I will allow you to put in any reasonable safety measures.” Aubrey promised when she felt her tease. 

“And if I request any unreasonable measures to protect our child?” Beca asked. 

“We will talk through them when the time comes.” Aubrey promised her as her hand slid to rest on Beca’s hip. “Do you want to try again?”

Beca nodded. She didn’t really but she knew she needed to learn how to handle all of this or she would never prove her worth and be able to directly influence the safety of her family. 

They spent hours at it. Aubrey asked questions that were designed to get Beca to want to fight against telling her. Her first time with someone, the thoughts in her head the first time they met, family memories that saw tears in Beca’s eyes. Aubrey pulled no punches when it came to the requests to try to push Beca to the point she fought through the effects.

“Please, no more tonight.” Beca begged as she came out of the charm nearly six hours after she went under it the first time. “I am close, I can feel it but I can’t do it anymore tonight.”

“Alright, Soumise.” Aubrey felt the layer of sweat on Beca, felt her shake. “No more tonight.”

Beca held tighter to Aubrey as she tried to focus on her breathing. She was on the verge of her breathing coming too quickly as her panic refused to fade. 

“I’m right here, Soumise.” Aubrey whispered. “I’ve got my arms around you and you’ve got yours around me. Our mates are safe just down the hall.”

The sound of Aubrey’s voice was soothing to Beca even if she felt the panic in her veins still. She nodded as she tucked her head under Aubrey’s chin again. 

“I’m alright.” Beca whispered. 

Aubrey let her charm slip out again but this one was meant only to give Beca a restful sleep. She felt the little Alpha tucked against her, calm now in her sleep and smiled. She was close to breaking the charm, closer than Stacie was six hours in. This one was stronger than even she knew.

Aubrey did worry that she broke her trust with Beca tonight but in between each round she would allow Beca rest to recover from the effects. Each time after the first outburst she would nuzzle at Aubrey’s neck and hold tight to her. It did give the vampire hope that their bond would stay intact even as she had to keep pushing Beca’s comforts to get her to break the charms. 

Aubrey looked up when the door to her chamber’s opened. 

“Anastasia. Roux.” Aubrey looked at the pair. 

“We could feel Beca’s anger and pain all night through our bond. When it ended we figured you two were done for the night.” Stacie and Chloe walked over to the bed, Chloe moving behind Beca as Stacie moved behind Aubrey.

“She is close to being able to break the charm.” Aubrey tilted her head to allow Stacie to nuzzle her neck. 

“She worked so hard. I could feel how hard she was trying.” Chloe whispered as she held Beca as protectively as Beca held her. 

“She worked very hard.” Aubrey agreed. 

“We all need to get some sleep.” Stacie whispered as she rested her head behind Aubrey’s on her pillow. “Morning will be here before we know it.”

“Tomorrow we’re all sleeping in. Everything can wait an hour or two.” Chloe’s tone gave no room for debate. 

“Who am I to disagree with you, Roux?” Aubrey chuckled. 

Chloe leaned over Beca to kiss her before settling back against her. “Goodnight.” She whispered as she gave in to sleep now that she knew Beca was ok. 

“Do you need to feed?” Stacie asked once Chloe was sleeping. 

“I will in the morning. I don’t want to try to move Soumise even if she won’t wake up.” Aubrey answered. 

“Goodnight then, Aubrey.” Stacie kissed the back of her neck.

“Goodnight, Anastasia.” Aubrey slipped into a dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are my love language.


	4. Aubrey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the final chapter. 
> 
> I am going to echo my warning from the first chapter. There are very dark themes hinted at there but I kept them vague for a reason. 
> 
> Thanks G as always. :)

The snow was starting to pile up in the fields in late November. The fires were all lit to keep the house warm as the newest member of Aubrey’s clan was only a few days old. 

Isabella Byrne Posen was born in the middle of the night just a few days after the full moon. Stacie had a difficult time of it but managed to make it out with her heath and a healthy baby girl to show off to her mates. 

“She’s so tiny.” Beca said from the far side of the bed. 

Beca had been sleeping less lately as she watched over her mates and their daughter. Though last night Chloe made her sleep with a little assist from Aubrey. She woke up this morning by the soft cry of Bella wanting her breakfast. 

“She’s only three days old.” Chloe laid next to her. 

“She’ll be bigger than you before you know it, Soumise.” Aubrey was on the outer edge of the bed as Stacie fed their daughter from her breast. Bella would take milk for the first month or so before needing blood. 

Beca stuck her tongue out at Aubrey, grinning as she hid behind Chloe afterward. 

“Do you think she’ll be able to turn into a wolf form?” Chloe asked, lifting her head up to stroke over Bella’s head as she fed happily. 

“She may. Depends how strong her wolf is. I barely can feel mine and surely can’t transform. My mother said hers was more present but she wasn’t able to fully transform either. But her mother could.” Aubrey ran her hand over Stacie’s arm. 

“She will be able to. Her wolf is strong inside of her already. I can feel the little pup in there trying to figure out the world.” Stacie looked down at the newborn in her arm with all the pride in the world. 

“She will have us to teach her how to control her wolf and Aubrey to teach her how to be a vampire. Best of both worlds inside of her.” Chloe smiled.

“She will be a fitting heir.” Aubrey agreed. 

“A good older sister one day too.” Beca added without looking at the other three. 

“One day when she has settled and things are back to a more normal place for us.” Aubrey agreed. “I do not want the focus pulled from one to another too quickly.”

“I was one of nine.” Chloe made a face. “A year or two between pups would be a good idea.”

“Nine?” Aubrey made a face. 

“My mother wanted a girl. I have eight older brothers.” Chloe explained as she shifted to her side, kissing Stacie’s shoulder. “Had. They all are gone now.”

Beca wrapped herself around Chloe. They all lost so much during the pack’s civil war but Chloe had so many relatives taken from her that Beca didn’t know how she got out of bed some days. 

A servant knocked on the door a few moments later and delivered an update via a piece of parchment.

“There is a small group of wolves from your former territory making their way towards my clan’s land. If you want I can send out a search party to have them brought here. If they are friends I will make sure they are treated as such and if not then they can be taken care of.” Aubrey said. 

“Aubrey it’s freezing outside and if any of them are sick or hurt they aren’t going to have supplies after the war.” Stacie growled at her mate. “Send a search party out for them.”

“I should go with them.” Beca got out of bed. “I will know them and they might not try to fight a bunch of vampires if I’m with them.”

“And if they are not friends and they try to attack you?” Aubrey asked. “Soumise, I am fond enough of you that I wish you in this bed for years to come.”

“Be careful.” Chloe moved to her knees on the bed and bent down to kiss Beca softly. “You have three mates and a daughter to come back for.”

Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe’s chest and held her close, nuzzling at her neck. “I will take Lilly and three of her best with me. We’ll find them and bring them back or come back alone. No hostages.”

“Be careful.” Aubrey moved around the bed to cup Beca’s face in her hands when she pulled back from Chloe. “I am ordering that of you, understand?”

“Yes.” Beca looked into her eyes. “And I am duty bound to follow your orders.”

“You are love bound too.” Aubrey whispered, bending down to bite Beca’s neck and drawing out half a mouthful of blood. She wanted her little Alpha on her lips today. 

“I’ll be careful. I promise.” Beca moved back when Aubrey pulled her head up. 

When Beca was dressed and ready to leave she walked over to Stacie and Bella. She carefully brought the little girl into her arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“I know you’re little and you won’t remember me leaving you this time. But I was hoping I wouldn’t be gone from you so soon. I love you, Chiot.” They had settled on the French term for puppy as the nickname for their daughter, an inside joke that felt fitting.

“She will be here to cuddle you as soon as you get back. In one piece.” Stacie’s eyes were dark as they looked at Beca. 

“One piece, I promise.” Beca vowed as she settled Bella back in Stacie’s arms. 

—————

It was weeks later before any of them heard from Beca, Lilly or the vampires that went with them. Three weeks of Aubrey pacing at night, of Chloe being nervous at any sound or sight from the windows, of Stacie looking at the front door of the manor and willing Beca to walk back through it. 

They had no reason to believe Beca was in danger but the lack of communication made all of them fear the worst may have somehow happened. One Alpha and four vampires was a strong force but they were not unstoppable. 

“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I don’t know if Beca will forgive herself if she misses Bella’s first Christmas.” Chloe said as they all gathered in the sitting room after dinner. 

“I wish we had any idea where she was.” Stacie stood by the fire with Bella in her arms. She was sleeping at the moment, cuddled with her head over Stacie’s beating heart. 

“If she does not return by Christmas evening I will send out someone to track her down and bring her back by the scruff of her neck.” Aubrey’s tone came with a low growl to it that usually Stacie or Beca had when upset. 

A servent walked in shortly after with a folded piece of parchment, bowing to Aubrey before handing it over. 

“When was this received?” Aubrey demanded. 

“Just now, Master Posen.” The servant replied.

“Prepare the guest rooms, have as much meat as we have prepared and readied for them and have clothes set out for them to change into once they are cleaned. Call in the healers and have them ready to give everyone a looked over.” Aubrey commanded. The servant bowed again before leaving. 

“What’s going on?” Chloe asked.

“Beca found the group heading here. Three nursing mothers among a group of twelve total, a few injuries that even wolf healing is having trouble with.” Aubrey handed the note written in Beca’s left handed scrawl. 

“Who is in the group?” Stacie questioned. 

“Jess and Ashley both have pups, Emily Junk too. Katherine Junk, CR and Flo are all hurt in one form or another.” Chloe looked up at Stacie. “Benji, Donald and Jesse are with them too.”

“Friends of yours, Anastasia?” Aubrey questioned. 

“All of them fought on our side.” Stacie nodded. “Emily having a pup though? She is so young. Barely nineteen.” 

“I hope it’s Benji’s.” Chloe feared what happened to them without Stacie there for protection. 

“Me too.” Stacie whispered. 

“I should go make sure your orders are followed.” Chloe got up, walking over to Aubrey and hugging her, nuzzling her neck. “Please?”

“Alright.” Aubrey wrapped her up in her arms for a moment. “I will come check on things soon.”

Stacie held Bella close to her chest as she walked over to Aubrey. “Hold out daughter so I can hug you both for a minute?” She asked, moving Bella into Aubrey’s arms. 

“You worried she wouldn’t come back to us.” Aubrey bent her head to kiss Bella’s head as she felt Stacie kissed hers.

“I worried more the longer we went without hearing from her. Our bonds has limits to them on how far before I can’t really feel her anymore.” Stacie whispered as she held tight to Aubrey. 

Aubrey leaned back as their daughter stirred now that she didn’t have a heartbeat under her ear. Aubrey charmed her to ease her back to sleep for the moment. 

“Charming out daughter to sleep? Cheater.” Stacie could feel it but had long ago mastered resisting what she felt from Aubrey’s charms. 

“I believe it would be called using what I have.” Aubrey closed her eyes for a moment. 

Stacie held Aubrey a little tighter as she felt a bit of her shift into place when she could feel on the outer edge of her mind Beca come back into range. An hour or so away from them now she thought. 

“I want Bella’s first blood to be Beca’s.” Aubrey whispered.

“That’s a high honor.” Stacie rested her chin on Aubrey’s shoulder. 

“You gave birth to her and she carries your pack name as her own. She carries my name and my fangs. Beca being her first blood and one day Chloe being the first she bites under her own power will bind her to each of us in our own ways.” Aubrey whispered. 

Stacie smiled at the thoughtfulness that Aubrey showed to each of her mates as far as their daughter went. She was starting to become less and less worried that the future she dreamed of was just a dream.

“You left and it was as though a beating heart was ripped from my chest.” Aubrey whispered. “But you did come back to me and brought to me two other bits of your heart to share. My anger was well placed but it has faded as time has passed.”

“I never stopped loving you. When I was gone the pain of not being at your side was felt every moment, Aubrey. Every single moment.” Stacie whispered. 

“It was.” Aubrey whispered. She turned out of Stacie’s arms to face her. “You gave me a child, Anastasia. That doesn’t make up for leaving but it changes who we are to each other. If my anger kept raging on it would leak into her blood and I don’t want that. I don’t want my daughter to have parents who have anger towards each other. I have lived that life and it is not one I wish on her.”

Stacie lifted her hand to cup Aubrey’s cheek, her thumb stroking over Aubrey’s jaw. She knew very little of Aubrey’s family life or her mother as a person outside of her blood’s effect on Aubrey’s abilities. 

“I love you.” Stacie whispered. 

“And I love you, Anastasia.” Aubrey looked into her eyes. 

“And we love them.” Stacie smiled softly. 

“We do.” Aubrey nodded. 

Stacie knew how unusual it was for a vampire to share a mate or an Alpha to share at all. The fact a vampire, two Alphas and a Beta all managed to love each other without bloodshed - outside of Aubrey’s feedings - was nothing short extraordinary. 

“I should go greet them when the party gets here. They will all be weak and having me there I think will relax them.” Stacie hoped so at least. Each was still bound to her as the last of her bloodline. 

“We will talk about their permanent accommodations later. The woods here will be big enough for a small pack as well as my clan. You are their leader, Anastasia.” Aubrey leaned up to kiss her, mindful of Bella in her arms. 

“Thank you.” Stacie bent down to kiss Bella’s head before going to prepare to greet her pack.

—————

The pack that Beca brought with her were all underfed, some injured and some clutching pups who knew nothing of the protections they now would have. They were taken to a large room usually used for parties, cots laid out for each of them to sit on and a fire roaring to warm the room. 

Cynthia-Rose and Flo huddled with Donald and Jesse as the four tried to process all that happened to themselves and to the remains of their pack. 

“Are you sure we’re safe here?” Benji asked Chloe, standing behind Emily and their son as one of the healers checked the pair out. Katherine was a few cots over being checked out. 

“I am.” Chloe promised as she looked up from where she was patching up Jesse’s back. The cuts would heal on their own now that they were cleaned out. “Aubrey will make sure of it.”

Benji bent down to take his son so Emily could lay down to let the healer work on her. The little boy was only a few months old but had a mess of dark hair like his mother and curls like his father. 

“Once you’re checked out there will be showers and food.” Chloe held on to Emily’s hand. 

The healer looked at the six month old baby in Benji’s arms before down at Emily. “You were not careful. Another pup will be born by summer. It is a fast turn around from your first.” 

Emily winced at the news that she was hoping not to hear. She knew they were foolish but she hoped the lack of food explained the effects she was feeling. 

“I’m sorry.” Emily said out of reflex. 

“She will need extra care. She is weak and if not treated accordingly she may lose the pup before it’s born.” The healer mixed together two vials of liquid into a third and handed it to her. 

“We’ll be more careful.” Benji couldn’t look at the healer or his mate. 

“It happens.” Chloe held tight to Emily’s hand. “Once this one is born we’ll have the healer mix something to protect you from it happening again so soon.”

Beca watched Chloe interact with Emily from the other side of the room. She was mostly unharmed, just dirty and hungry. But she refused to leave the room until everyone had been given the all clear from the healers. 

When Stacie sat down next to her she leaned against her mate as they watched Chloe together. She felt Stacie’s arm around her shoulders and moved closer to be able to get as close to Stacie as she could without sitting on her lap. 

“Never leave for that long again without keeping in touch.” Stacie let out a low growl. 

“It was harder going than I expected with the pack being in so rough shape.” Beca knew it wasn’t an excuse but it was all she had to offer. 

“Still. You could have sent word one way or another.” Stacie rubbed over her thigh, wanting to touch as much of her mate as she could. 

“How’s our little one?” Beca asked.

Stacie’s expression lightened at the mention of their daughter. “She misses you. I know she was so little when you left and is not all that much bigger but she can sense something is incomplete in our home.”

Beca smiled at the information. “I can’t wait to hold her once I clean up and eat.”

“Aubrey wants you to be the first blood she has. So eat extra.” Stacie whispered.

Beca turned her head up to kiss Stacie’s jaw. “I love you. I love all four of you.” She felt the tears falling and refused to hide them.

“We love you too.” Stacie whispered as she brought her hand up to wipe the tears away.

“Are you two alright?” Chloe walked over to Ashley and Jessica with their two girls. 

“It’s nice not to have to take turns keeping watch.” Ashley said softly. She and Jessica had been mates only a few months when the war broke out. Neither had pups when it started. 

“We’ll be ok.” Jessica leaned against Ashley. “Our girls are healthy and we’re safe. We have each other to heal any old wounds.” 

Chloe held a hand from each, giving them a soft smile. “You two are going to be protected here from anyone wishing to do harm to you. I promise you.”

“Thanks, Chloe.” Ashley gave a bittersweet smile. “At least we have our girls, right?”

“They are good girls.” Jessica whispered with a slightly far off look in her eyes. “No matter how they came to be.”

Chloe left the mates to their moment as Ashley rested her head against Jessica as the girls in their arms cuddled to their mother’s chest. 

The healers patched everyone up to a point their own natural abilities would take over. The three babies were all still feeding from their mothers so they were a bit underweight but healthy and the rest would be able to heal themselves now that they would be eating enough and have shelter.

Aubrey walked in without Bella in her arms. She walked over to Beca and pulled her up by her shirt to bring her up to her feet. 

Beca looked into Aubrey’s eyes and saw anger and worry and love there. She felt her arms wrapping around Aubrey before either spoke. 

“Never do that to your mates again, Soumise.” Aubrey whispered. 

“I promise, Aubrey.” Beca whispered. 

Aubrey pressed a kiss to Beca’s even if she wanted her blood back on her lips instead. Beca was too weak and she didn’t want to weaken her further at the moment. 

She turned to the room once the kiss broke. She saw all of the werewolves looking at her with nerves written all over their faces. While nervousness was usually something she cultivated when it came to unknown creatures, these were pack mates of her mates.

“You will be welcome to stay on these lands. Lodgings will be built for you, there are woods to hunt in and a village nearby that is friendly to creatures. Anastasia is the last of her line and I believe will lead you all well should you wish to live as a pack.” Aubrey addressed them. 

“We have nowhere else to go, no lands of our own, no money.” Jesse said a bit bitterly. “We have no choice but to accept.”

Beca let out a growl at the disrespect but held her tongue. 

“He means, thank you.” Cynthia-Rose elbowed him in his sour ribs. 

“It’s my pleasure.” Aubrey bowed her head a bit. “Now that the healers have seen to each of you, I suggest you all head to your rooms and clean up. Food will be brought to each of the rooms shortly. Tomorrow breakfast will be served in the main dining room at just after nine.”

Each of the werewolves followed one of Aubrey’s servants to the rooms that were prepared for each of them. They all wanted to sleep but the idea of a shower and food before that was too tempting. 

“You.” Chloe let out a growl. She had been avoiding Beca because she had been so upset but now she could no longer. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t send word.” Beca said weakly. 

“You better be.” Chloe hugged Beca tightly the moment Aubrey stepped out of the way. 

“Hi, Chlo.” Beca felt the warmth of Chloe’s arms around her, her eyes closing at how good it felt to be home again.

“We should get you into the shower and something to eat.” Chloe pulled back, her hands moving over Beca’s ribs. She could feel how thin she got over the last three weeks and did not approve. 

“Come on.” Stacie stood up. “Our daughter is going to want to see you too.”

The four of them made their way up to the master bedroom together. When they entered the vampire that had been watching Bella excused herself quickly. 

“Bella, look at how big you are.” Beca lifted Bella into her eyes. The little girl’s eyes could focus fully now and she let out a giggle when Beca lifted her up. Being part werewolf and part vampire she advanced faster than a human child. 

“I told you she missed you.” Stacie stood behind Beca with her arms around her as Chloe and Aubrey stood on either side of them. 

“I missed her.” Beca nuzzled her little neck, hearing her giggle soothing the wolf in her chest. “I missed all four of you so much. But the pack was so broken and with the babies it was such rough going. I wanted to send word but we avoided people since I didn’t know if they were creature friendly.”

The three of her mates held her as Beca held Bella to her chest. She cried for all she had missed and how lonely she was without feeling the bond she had to each because of the distance. She let herself soak in their bonds and the way that they each made her feel complete. 

“Come on.” Chloe eased Bella out of Beca’s arms. “You need a shower and to eat. And then Bella is going to have some of your blood.”

Bella giggled as she reached up for Chloe’s red hair. Chloe smiled down at her as Aubrey guided Beca to the bathroom. 

“I’m alright Aubrey, I can shower.” Beca promised when the vampire shut the door with the two of them in. 

“Bare your neck to me.” Aubrey hissed. “I have gone weeks without your taste on my lips. I have felt the pain of our mates as they lived without the weight of their bond to you keeping them grounded. I have lived without a connection to you. Bare your neck.”

Beca nodded slowly at the command before she did as she was told. She felt Aubrey’s bite on her neck before her hands firm on her back to hold her in place. A warmth spread through her that she never felt before, something different in the bite. When Aubrey pulled back they locked eyes. 

“A bite and a little witch’s magic?” Beca felt herself tremble as she figured out what Aubrey did to her. 

“I shouldn’t have done that without asking or as soon as I did. But you left me and I am in a rather possessive mood, Soumise.” Aubrey admitted.

“You’re my mate and I am yours. If you want a child with me, then we’ll have one.” Beca reached up to wipe a little of her blood off of Aubrey’s chin. “You have to tell Chloe though. She’ll be a bit disappointed she’ll be the last to carry for you.”

Aubrey pulled Beca close again. “She will understand.”

“She will.” Beca agreed as she rested her head against Aubrey’s shoulder. 

“Go shower.” Aubrey whispered. “I will explain my impulsiveness to Anastasia and Roux.” 

“Get a wolf pregnant and then walk away. Typical.” Beca smirked as she started to undress. 

Aubrey rolled her eyes as she slipped out of the bathroom and walked over to the bed. She stood there on what was typically Beca’s side of the bed and looked at her mate’s with Bella between them on the bed. 

Stacie looked at the way Aubrey was looking at Bella. She could feel a bit of guilt off of Aubrey through their bond. 

“She’s pregnant now, isn’t she?” Stacie raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes.” Aubrey whispered.

Chloe looked over at Aubrey. “Another baby?”

“In about nine months, yes.” Aubrey nodded. 

Chloe’s smile was electric as she moved from her seated position on the bed to hug Aubrey, kissing her neck. “I can’t wait to see what you and Beca’s little pup looks like.”

“You aren’t upset?” Aubrey questioned. 

“Why would I be?” Chloe asked, nipping at Aubrey’s neck. “You’ll make us all mother’s twice over, right?”

Aubrey tilted her head to allow Chloe space to nip at her skin. She really did love Chloe's love of nipping at her neck. She allowed her to do it a few more moments before she tilted her head back up to look at Stacie. 

“Anastasia?” Aubrey asked.

“You said you would keep your children to the three of us and you are keeping that promise. But know we’re not pitting our girls against each other to see who is the strongest. If Bella isn’t your heir then have it not be because she fails some test she spends a lifetime taking.” Stacie looked at Aubrey with years of having to live through tests from her family in her eyes.

“Nothing has changed with Bella’s status.” Aubrey promised. 

“Then have as many children as you want with us.” Stacie nodded, picking Bella up to kiss the top of her head. “Well, within reason.” 

Beca walked out, dressed in one of Stacie’s shirts that was nearly a dress on her. She had her hair in a low bun as she walked over to the bed, crawling past Chloe and Aubrey to sit next to Stacie. 

“May I?” Beca asked, wanting Bella in her arms again.

“For a few minutes and then you need to eat.” Stacie agreed, carefully passing Bella over to Beca. 

“I will eat, I promise.” Beca kissed Bella’s head, breathing in the scent of the little vampire. 

Chloe brought the plate of food that was brought up over to the bed. She had a feeling if the food wasn’t in reach of where Beca was with Bella she wouldn’t move for longer than she was comfortable with Beca not eating. 

“Thanks.” Beca picked up a bit of meat, taking a big bite of it. 

“You’re welcome.” Chloe smiled as she laid at the foot of the bed, wanting Beca as she held Bella and ate. 

“You did make it home for Christmas at least.” Aubrey sat on the side of the bed, watching to make sure Beca ate enough. 

“Did I? I’m not even sure what day it is.” Beca admitted. 

“Twenty-third.” Stacie supplied. 

“On Christmas morning can we go for a run in the woods, transformed? I always liked playing in the snow when I wasn’t running for my life.” Beca joked.

“One, not funny. Two, yes.” Chloe rolled her eyes just a bit. “My family always did that on Christmas morning before we ate. My brothers would tease me for not being as fast as they were.”

“I will see to it that Bella is awake and ready to be passed around as we open gifts.” Aubrey promised. 

“We should have the pack join us.” Stacie said. “I’ll have someone run to the village and get them some gifts. They need just about everything. Christmas morning with a pack run and then gifts by the fire sounds like a dream.”

“I will see to it.” Aubrey promised. “You’re a pack leader after all, Anastasia.”

“I guess we can’t outrun our fates after all.” Stacie smiled. 

—————

The whole pack went out in the early morning on Christmas. The babies were watched by servants to give their mother’s time to bond with the rest of the pack. The run they went on was only about three miles but Stacie set the pace slow to make sure no one was left behind or hurt themselves during it. 

When they returned they all headed to their rooms to take a nap before they showered and prepared to come down for the feast they would enjoy. 

The feast Chloe directed the cook to prepare was the largest the house had seen in years. Beef and goose and venison were all prepared with sides and a case of wine. She had taken to overseeing the household as well as any mate of the Master of the Posen Clan had in generations. 

“Oh my stars.” Emily was holding little Ben in her arms as she walked into the dinning room. “There is more food here than I think I’ve ever seen before.”

“Chloe outdid herself in the direction and the cook is just happy to have their skills stretched.” Aubrey held Bella on her hip as she stood near the head of the table. 

“I wanted the first Christmas here to be special.” Chloe walked in from the sitting room. 

“It sure is.” Jessica smiled as she and Ashley carried their girls, Hope and Grace, in. “Thank you for opening your home to us.”

“Of course.” Aubrey smiled. 

One by one everyone came down and took their seats once everyone was down. The table easily had room for everyone to have a bit of room, the children sitting in high chairs that Aubrey had picked up to free their mother’s laps. 

“A toast.” Stacie lifted her glass. “To family, found and blood. May we all share this table with additions as they come to us for many years.”

“Here, here.” Katherine smiled as she looked over at her daughter and son-in-law. 

Aubrey sipped her blood wine as she watched the others eat. She had never been one to find much joy around a table full of anyone before but sitting here with her daughter in her lap, her mates an arms reach away, and the remaining pack members, her mind began to change on the matter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are my love language.


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